The Organization of the Farm
John Jay Homestead
John Jay began planning his farm soon after he amassed the 750 acres by inheritance and purchase in the 1780s.
In 1832, William Jay made several improvements to the Jay farm. He enlarged the cow barn, renovated the main barn, had an old barn removed, and began construction on a new one. Many changes to the farm during this period were the result of William’s experimentation with silage (winter animal feed), drainage, horticulture, and raising livestock.
In 1862, John Jay’s grandson wrote that at the family’s Bedford farm the buildings appeared better and more numerous than on other farms because they had originally “been grouped together – so as to form a large cluster.”
Over the years, the family added more barns to this nucleus. Interestingly, almost all of the buildings were aligned on a north-south or east-west axis.
Marker can be reached from Jay Street (New York Route 22) 0.1 miles south of Beaver Dam Road, on the left when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
